Grow Up
by sekaiichis
Summary: Due to Takano's poor choice of words, Onodera finds himself feeling smaller than ever. Trapped in the body of his six year old self, he has to continue to navigate life between his parents, Takano, and relentless job.
1. Chapter 1

**Another new multi chapter fic! I know I haven't updated Hearing Things in a while, but rest assured I'll get to it sooner or later.**

 **This fic is going to draw inspiration from a handful of drawings that I saw on pixiv awhile back, while adding things here and there. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Come to my apartment," Takano broke into the silence of the elevator ride to the twelfth floor. "I'll make us dinner."

"No thank you, Takano-san." Onodera denied the offer as he normally would. "I'll have you know I'm eating on my own today."

"And just _what_ do you have in your kitchen that would make for an actual meal? That instant crap you keep buying doesn't count." As the other crossed his arms over his chest, the brunet could only let out a dry laugh.

"Y-you see..." He grasped at his extensive vocabulary, unable to find any words to get him out of this one.

"Heh. Remember that one time we looked through your fridge and there was a celery stick in the middle of all those energy drinks and food packets?"

"That was over two months ago, Takano-san!" A light blush began to dust his cheeks in embarrassment.

"Might as well have been yesterday seeing as you still probably have that fridge full of-"

"I don't!" Quick to cut him off, he now faced his neighbor with quite the scowl.

"Oh…" They made their way out of the elevator, now talking outside of their apartments. "So you guarantee that if I walk into your spotless-"

"When did I ever say it was spotless?"

"Oh, so that's a mess, too?" Another laugh came as the raven took out his keys..

"N-no, jeez, you're not coming over, so why should it matter?"

"So my place then." He held the door open, looking into green eyes expectantly.

"Takano-san, we already see each other all day at work, I honestly don't feel the need to see you beyond that."

"No, really, I _insist_." Taking Onodera's wrist in his hand, he tugged him into 1201's genkan and locked the door behind him.

Pulling out of his grasp, the brunet huffed. This wasn't out of the ordinary for them as of late, but he had a bad feeling about it today. And it was beyond the normal negative feelings that came with being dragged into his neighbor's apartment.

He had a feeling something was going to go horribly wrong if he stayed too long and wanted nothing more than to have some of the food Takano had been criticizing him for, take a shower, and sleep.

But as he saw his boss walk further into the apartment without a word, he felt himself pulled forward. He removed his shoes and sighed as he followed, mumbling an apology for imposing.

He took at seat on the couch, placing his bag on the floor and hanging his coat over the armrest.

"Drink?" Takano's voice carried from the kitchen, he seemed to be already serving something up for himself.

"Just water is fine, thank you." He leaned back into the cushion, trying to find a way to relax a bit.

The older padded over to the couch and handed over the glass of water, sitting down next to him.

"So, what did you want to eat tonight? I have enough laying around that we have a few options."

"I don't think I should decide, I'm already imposing as is." Already feeling himself tensing, the brunet took a few sips from his glass.

"Who said you were imposing? I was the one that invited you in the first place." His body hunched forward just to get a better look at the other's face.

"Look, Takano-san we're not-"

"We're not what? Not in a relationship beyond work? Not kids? Onodera, really, _grow up_ already."

How two words could make his heart stop beating for a moment was beyond him, but the brunet was able to maintain his composure. Against his better judgement he was going to keep on with this conversation.

After placing his cup onto the table in front of him, the younger turned to look at his boss with a frown.

"What do you want from me?" It was a simple question that somehow encompassed many of his worries and irritations surrounding this man.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean what do want out of this… this relationship? Like I said before, I can't see where this is going…"

"And like _I_ said before, I want to date you, be able to be lovey dovey, be able to proudly say you're mine, that I'm yours." Somewhere along the line his hands had moved to take Onodera's in his own.

They stared into each other's eyes almost breathlessly, the moment all too fragile.

Takano slowly leaned forward and pecked Onodera on the lips, pulling back slightly for a view of his reaction. Satisfied with the blush that was starting to spread across his love's face, he leaned in again for another kiss.

"T-Takano-san, don't." He had pulled his hands away, using them to push the other away.

"Why not?"

"I don't like this, how you always just… go say whatever you think is romantic and cease any conversation with...yeah."

"And you have a problem with that?"

"Of course I do! We keep doing all this all out of order, it's been messed up from the start!"

"If you would just _confess already_ , then this wouldn't be a problem."

It wasn't as if it was the first time Takano had said that, but for some reason this time it just felt different. It was like he had been waiting for just the right moment to rile Onodera up, and honestly, he was hardly in the mood for such antics.

"Why do you _always_ have to say that?"

"I'm just telling you the truth."

"How exactly are you supposed to know what'll happen in the future?! There's no way of knowing!"

"Look, _Ritsu_ ," His heart clenched almost painfully at the use of his given name. "I know there aren't any certainties in life, but I'm sure that if you just get over all this and _grow up_ already-"

At hearing those same two words for the second time, there was an almost tangible feeling of near rage from the brunet.

"Get over it?" A shaky voice echoed the words in a whisper. "You really think that's it? After all these months?!"

"Ritsu, I-"

"Shut up! I'm going home!" He grabbed his belongings and stomped out of the apartment, not bothering to listen to the protests behind him.

* * *

"Grow up…" He scoffed as he sat down on the floor of his bedroom. "Who the hell does he think he is?"

Leaning back, he rested his head on the edge of his bed. Earlier he had been ready to get some sleep, but now he was all stirred up inside and felt like he'd be up for a few more hours.

"But maybe I overdid it…? No I was saying what I have problems with like he said that one time, and he was brushing it off… but maybe…? Ugh!" As much as he wanted to be mad at Takano, it always looped back to guilt and fear that he'd pushed him away too much. The man knew how to make Onodera show his feelings without words when it came down to it, but whenever they tried to actually talk things out there was always something to go wrong.

' _I can't let this get me down though, I should finish writing my proposal since I'll be up anyways…'_

He scooted over a bit to his bag and opened it up. While pulling out his laptop, he saw his phone had some notifications.

A missed call from his mother and a text from Takano.

He didn't want to know what his mother had called about, knowing that since his engagement with An had ended he could be engaged off to some woman at any time if his mother truly felt like it. That, or a complaint he needed to take his future as heir to the publishing house more seriously. Both were unpleasant, and he hardly dwelled on them when he saw the text.

[I'm sorry, that was really stupid of me. I never know what I'm thinking when I'm talking to you, you just make me feel that way. I love you.]

That was sent five minutes ago, and the brunet could only sigh. While he was legitimately hurt by what Takano had said, this only made him feel like an idiot for how he reacted. Like a kid.

' _Maybe I really do need to grow up…'_

His phone vibrated as another message came through.

[You can come back over if you still want dinner. The door is unlocked.]

As he opened his phone to decline the offer, he felt his body begin to heat up painfully. His whole body ached and he groaned as the pain continued to get worse and worse.

' _What the…?'_

He struggled to stand up, but pushed through the pain, determined to get help. As much as he wanted to cool down from their argument, he could hardly do that when it felt like every bone in his body was melting.

He staggered to his door and barely made it to Takano's before collapsing on the floor with another yelp in pain.

He could make out the noise of Takano approaching, but couldn't bear to look. Eyes clenched shut in pain, it only got worse when he heard that voice.

"Ritsu! Ritsu, what's wrong?"

"T-Takano-san, i-it's so hot, I c-can't…" In a burst of pain his vision flashed white, and he screamed in pain before losing consciousness.

* * *

Coming to, Onodera was startled when he noticed he was strapped into the back seat of a car.

"Takano-san-" He stopped when his voice hit his ears, shocked by how much higher pitched it was. He hadn't sounded like this in well over a decade.

Looking down at his lap, he saw how his clothes looked much too baggy, having to be rolled up to look close to normal. And his hands- they were so small…

"Ritsu, we're going to the hospital right now. I don't know what the hell is going on, but…"

"I-I don't understand…" Hands clenched on his on his lap. "How could something like this even happen…?"

"I don't know, but we're going to see if anybody can help, ok?"

"How can you be so calm about all of this?"

"I'm not, I'm terrified. But you need help as soon as possible. This isn't some manga where you go back to how you were before with 'the power of love' or some shit." He turned the car, reaching a parking lot.

"..." Onodera remained quiet as he parked the car, and didn't realize they had arrived until Takano had opened the back door.

"Do you think that you can walk right now?" He was hunched over, trying to take in their current situation just a little bit more.

"I think so." He unbuckled his seatbelt and hopped down and out of the car. He wobbled slightly and Takano put his hand on his back to support him.

"I don't." He stated simply, closing the car door and hoisting the brunet up into his arms.

"..." Unable to truly deny he needed the help, he remained silent as the raven locked up the car and walked towards the building.

"How do you think the people are going to take this? Some 26 year old just shrinking down to the size of a six year old out of nowhere? Even I haven't read a book about something like that before."

"Well this isn't a book, Takano-san." Onodera huffed, not open to making light of the situation.

In the end, they were able to have a walk-in meeting with a pediatrician, considering if they told the hospital what was going on in the first place they might not be taken seriously.

While waiting in the small examination room, it was a bit tense. How exactly would they convince whoever walked in of what happened?

From outside of the room, shoes clacked against the tiled floor as somebody approached. After a knock, the doctor opened the door with a smile.

"Hello, I'm Kusama Nowaki, I'll be your doctor today. Now what seems to be the problem?"

* * *

 **Yes, I'm bringing in Nowaki! We'll see how they try to explain the situation to him soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey there everyone! I put a lot of time into this one and ended up flopping ideas quite a few times, so I hope you all like the finished product! Drop a review when you're done, ok? uvu**

* * *

"Hello, I'm Kusama Nowaki, I'll be your doctor today. Now what seems to be the problem?"

What exactly _wasn't_ wrong with the current situation? The brunet swiveled slightly in his seat, looking up at the man with big green eyes much too tired for the six year old he appeared to be.

"Well, earlier this night things were normal as usual, but…" Onodera trailed off, not quite sure how to phrase things in a believable way. He turned to Takano in the hopes he could help. "...You saw it, right...?"

He only nodded his head slowly, unsure on what to say himself in regards to describing what had happened.

"What happened earlier?" The doctor had sat down across from the two of them, patiently waiting for an explanation with a smile. "The more detail, the better I would be able to help."

"Well, I was just sitting on the floor in my apartment when all of a sudden I started getting really really hot." He was now looking back up at the doctor, hands fisted up in his loose pants.

"Your apartment?" The phrasing was odd coming from such a young boy, Kusama thought to himself. "Ah, but, was there anything else you were feeling outside of the heat?"

"Well, it felt like my bones were almost melting in a way. You see, um, I…"

"He's 26 years old." Takano interjected, deciding that being blunt was the best way to go about this. There wasn't exactly a way to tiptoe around Onodera's actual age after all.

"26…?" He had a passing thought that all the night shifts had been getting to him. "I'm sorry, could you repeat what you just said?"

"He's 26... and until around an hour ago, he was about up to here on me." He held up a hand around his neck.

"As in he was climbing-"

"As in when he stood on the floor that's how tall he was."

"...?" His blue eyes scrunched up somewhat in confusion, unable to fully comprehend just what he was being told.

"I shrunk, I know it may be hard to believe, but really! I have a job and I own an apartment, I'm really an adult!"

He slowly regained his breath, but his heart was pounding hard in his chest as he awaited for the doctor to say something- anything at this point.

Having finally collected his thoughts, the doctor's friendly smile had been replaced with a look of skepticism.

"So you're telling me... he shrunk?" Kusama asked, wanting to affirm he was not going crazy.

"Yes, I have picture of how he normally looks on my phone if you want to see." Not even waiting for a response, he had already slipped it out of his pocket and sifted through his files. "Ah, here."

The picture made it clear the brunet was unaware his picture was being taken. Those same tired green eyes were looking off somewhere, hair a bit mussed up but clearly the same as the shrunken man in front of them.

Onodera wanted to ask when and _why_ he had taken the picture, but held back such thoughts, telling himself he could ask later. If the lack of consent he had given- cause there was no way in hell he had ever agreed to Takano ever taking a picture of him- was what would convince this guy they were telling the truth, then so be it.

Those skeptic eyes kept shifting from the phone screen to the boy, still unsure on how to respond to something like this. This was weird enough normally, but for somebody who went through years of medical training and studies it was ever worse.

"I have more," Takano said, ignoring the glare Onodera threw him over his shoulder. "I'm- we're really unsure of how to convince you, or anyone really. But please, if there's anything you can do-"

"I get what your saying, I _want_ to believe you, but from a medical standpoint this is completely unprecedented."

"Kusama-sensei, please, we _know_ that, but I saw him disappear into a puff of steam right in front of me before coming out like this." He put on hand on the brunet's shoulder. "There has to be a reason that this happened."

Those tiny balled-up fists on Onodera's lap only tightened their grip, knuckles starting to go white. He was grasping for something that could prove things, thinking through anything that could remotely relate to this. Any bodily function or feature that could have proved his age outside of his brain had been reversed to his knowledge.

However, in his rush of getting his thoughts together, he was able to remember something from a biology course he took years and years ago.

It had been in a unit on development of the human body, and thank god he had been paying attention. The frontal lobe of the brain, from what he remembered, was not supposed to fully develop until hitting somewhere in your twenties.

With this in mind, he cleared his throat, hopeful.

"Is there the equipment in this hospital to do a scan?" He was looking up again, more confident now.

"You mean for an x-ray of your body?" Kusama was thrown off by the question, but was satisfied enough that it was something he had an answer to.

"No, like a scan of my brain… if I'm remembering things correctly my frontal cortex development should be proof of this, right?"

* * *

They were back in the car now, Onodera once again in the back seat because of his size.

While it hadn't lasted long, the time spent at the hospital had been taxing on him. He had been overly aware of every noise around him and a headache had throbbed lightly right behind his eyes- maybe it was that or the building stress of his predicament.

Kusama seemed to trust their words more now, but he still couldn't hide the bite of doubt that seeped into his attitude. While he remained wary of what was going on, he was able to help them to set up a later appointment for a MRI scan as well as x-rays to see just what was going on in his body for in a week.

Onodera wanted to tell himself he could just calm down a bit- that they were going to figure all this out and he would be back to whatever his normal was in no time.

But really, how would he get by like this? He still had to work, pay bills, and handle the limited shopping that he did at the convenience and grocery stores by the train among other responsibilities.

And _oh god_ , he could only imagine what would happen if he happened to avoid one too many of his mother's calls. He couldn't very well pick up the phone with the voice he had right now!

Or even worse, what if she went and tried to set him up with another woman without his permission again? What was he supposed to then? Meet her in this state just to reject her? And that was only if anyone would even bother to take him seriously.

And what about Takano? He knew that Onodera was the same- mentally at least. How were they going to move forward from here? They already had the boss and employee thing, the two guys thing, they sure as hell didn't need this.

He felt his heart clench, a passing thought telling him he might not have to deal with the boss and employee thing for the time being. While he couldn't exactly call his work all that fun for him, he did find it rewarding to have something to put his time and energy into and get actual results.

And even with results, he still did find himself feeling useless a lot of the time. If not for Takano reassuring him every now and then he would probably not even be around the Emerald editors anymore.

While he felt Takano did help pull him along, he couldn't help but feel he was only chasing him like all those years ago. Someone was always casting a shadow on him and this time around his boss happened to be that someone.

And now as a cruel reminder of how insignificant he had felt, he now had the size to match.

And why was he thinking like this? _There was no way he would be like this forever, right?_

"Onodera, hey. You ok?" Having been lost in thought, Onodera had failed to notice they were back in the complex's parking garage.

"O-oh, yeah, I'm fine." He took out his seatbelt and hopped out of the car only to find himself stumbling again. "As fine as I can be…"

"Here," He picked up the brunet for the third time that night and made his way to the elevator. "I have to say, you're much easier to carry when you're like this."

" _Shut up!_ " The high pitched voice struck Takano's ears and he couldn't help the slight wince that appeared on his face. "Would you just take this seriously?"

"I am, trust me." They walked into the lift, and began to make their way up to the twelfth floor. "I was in such a rush that I almost ran out the door without my car keys."

"...Wait, what about my apartment?" He had left the door open, not knowing he wouldn't be coming back for a good while.

"Ah, I'm sure it's fine. I've never heard of someone coming up to a twelfth floor apartment to steal things." Takano stared on at the wall, feeling the glare of those big eyes on him.

"Well I couldn't very well handle locking the door earlier, seeing as how I was practically melting!" There was a resonating ding before the doors slid open and they could see his door, as suspected, to be open. "Ugh, seriously?!"

"I'm sorry, I was more worried about you than your apartment, okay? You're much more important than anything in there." His eyes softened at the slight blush that took over the now round face.

It pained him in a way, seeing that face that should be innocent and bright with youth's naivety to look so worn-out. His eyes shouldn't have been so tired, not until he started rebelling and staying up late into the night to read a book he just had to know the ending to.

But to see what he would've looked like if they had someone been able to meet even earlier in life than either had, that was also a comfort. Even if it was years before they actually initially met, seeing his young face did bring back memories of his high school relationship with him. If he were to just part those messy bangs- maybe gel them into that style-

"Takano-san, are you ok?" Onodera was looking at him with worry, yet another thing Takano didn't want to see, knowing there had to be plenty of things going through the brunet's head right now.

"I'm fine, your face is just bringing back a few things." He lips curved up the slightest bit and he turned his attention to his bag to retrieve his key, keeping his hold on the brunet with one arm now.

"O-oh. Sorry." The apology came in a mumble.

"Not all bad things, most are good." He turned the key in the slot and opened it, walking into the genkan. "I can just see these big eyes peering at me from behind a bookshelf and at that Pandaway filled with excitement that one time we ran into each other by coincidence. Things like that are good."

"I'm glad _you_ can think of those things in a positive light." He huffed as he was put down on the couch, which seemed much larger now.

"Hey, you don't mean to tell me you didn't enjoy any of the things we did together in high school?" He sat down next to him, arms crossing over his chest. "I know you definitely enjoyed when we would-"

"Could you _not_." He scooted to the side, distancing himself from the older man.

"What? What's wrong about talking about how we would talk about books? It's not like there's anything wrong with that." Takano shrugged and Onodera felt bad again, having thought he was going another route with the tone he had been speaking in. Just as he was about to speak himself, the raven continued. "And there was the sex, too."

"Takano-san!" He gave another shriek that reminded the other not to upset the brunet in this state.

"Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't be talking about things like that when you're like this. We're not going to be able to do anything like that for the foreseeable future…"

"Well, yeah."

"Lovey dovey things should be fine though, right?" Takano leaned towards the brunet, smiling a bit. "When you're so cute like this, I can't imagine anyone not wanting to ruffle your hair."

"T-takano-san, please-"

"Alright, if you say so." Before the younger could finish his sentence, a hand mussed up his hair, making it more of a mess than it already was. "I thought you'd never ask."

"That's because I _would never_ ask..." He murmured under his breath as the hand slowed down and slender fingers ran through his hair.

"I guess so." He agreed as he pulled back, resting his hands on his lap. "Anyways, what are you going to do for now? I mean, I don't feel comfortable leaving you in your apartment on your own, so I think you should stay here for now."

"I don't think your comfort should have anything to do with this, you're not directly affected by this."

"Except _I am_. As your boss, I'm going to have to adjust your workload in order to not overwhelm you in this state. We especially can't have you staying up too late or being too involved with the stress of hell week."

"I've gotten along just fine up until now!" The moment that his protest was voiced, he regretted it.

"Hah, _no_. Did you already conveniently forget how you collapsed and Isaka-san had to take you to the hospital? Or have you always had such a selective memory?"

His tone suggested his words were meant to also apply to other things that Onodera didn't quite like to think about, and it hurt. Sure they've argued plenty over the past months they've been in each other's lives but tonight was definitely one of the worst nights they've had in awhile.

Even thinking back now, the apology from earlier over text was, well, over text. Even if they're uncooperative natures did keep them from getting things like this over and out of their systems as they should be, they both said (or thought to themselves) that they were trying to work things out.

But his chest felt tight and his throat went dry and he couldn't say a word all over again.

Takano seemed to realize this, brows drawing together in concern and voice taking a gentler tone. "Hey, that was bad of me to say, sorry."

Onodera only let out a shaky breath and shifted his weight away from the older, the thoughts from the car ride still swirling in his head.

"Onodera?" He was leaning forward so he could see the younger's face.

"Could you go get my stuff?"

It took a moment for Takano to process what he had just been asked before he nodded and walked off with a, "Sure,".

When he walked in, he was welcomed by piles of clothes and trash scattered about the hardwood floor. Not phased by it, his eyes scanned the area in search of the bag Onodera had been carrying earlier that day.

In his search, he let his mind wander to other things, like just how they were going to resolve all this. They had already argued numerous times that day, which wasn't all that out of the ordinary. The problem was the bite behind the words; they were much more hurtful than normal.

Seeing as how they were going to be sharing his apartment for a while, they would have the time to talk for sure. Just how to bring all this up though?

He felt like he had pushed too far this time, and the damage was more than he could handle with his normal attempts to patch things up.

He was going need to ease into things, taking each step slowly and gently not to break what they still had.

Pulling the bag over his shoulder, checking over what was in it- keys, work, laptop, cellphone, now a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a comb among other random items he had in it.

 _Surely he wouldn't be able to mess things up if he thought out what he did carefully, right?_

Distracted, he failed to notice the phone's vibrations from inside the bag.


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm alive! And updating a fic instead of posting a oneshot! Miracles can happen! Anyways I hope you guys like this chapter, I'm running on fumes because it's almost 2AM and I really wanted to post this lol.**

* * *

When Takano woke up the following morning, he could hear the light snores of the brunet laying beside him. Rolling over onto his side, he took a few moments to watch Onodera's sleeping face.

It was calming to see his face absent of the irritation and worry that plagued it so often, but even looking so much younger didn't save him from the darkness under his eyes that he had gained over the years.

Giving into temptation, Takano reached out with one of his cold, large hands and ran it through the younger man's bedhead with a slight scowl.

He didn't mind living together for the time being. In fact, living together with the one he loved had been something he had wanted for quite a long time. It was Onodera's current circumstances that made made the whole situation so annoying.

Letting out a deep sigh, Takano decided that it would be best to allow Onodera to sleep while he made breakfast. He needed the rest after what happened last night.

* * *

"Ritsu," An unusually soft voice met the brunet's ears and roused him from his sleep. "Ritsu, wake up."

Opening his eyes, Onodera looked up at the man leaned over him with a loose awareness of his surroundings. To his irritation, Takano's expression wasn't as cold as he normally found it to be. Rather than what he was so used to, the brunet was met with the slightest of smiles that made him want to go to his own apartment and lump up under the covers of _his_ bed.

To make it worse, Takano was towering above him right now, and Onodera wondered just why he was feeling so tiny compared to-

'Oh, right.' He thought to himself bitterly, looking down at his legs, barely able to tell they were there under the blanket. 'I shrunk...'

"Hey, are you getting up, or do I need to drag you out of bed?" The smile vanished just as quickly as he had realized it was there, leaving Onodera to wonder if he had even seen it in the first place.

"I-" He paused slightly at the high pitched voice that hit his ears. "I can get up on my own, Takano-san. You don't have to keep carrying me around."

"Are you sure? I don't know if you can even reach the toilet at your current height." Takano observed, remaining straightfaced.

"I wasn't that tall of a kid, okay?!" He sat up quickly and hopped to the floor. "Don't you have a stool or something?"

"I'm afraid not. If you haven't noticed I'm somewhat tall." He crouched down to Onodera's height. "I'll just have to hold you up while you-"

" _No, you won't._ Just give me a stack of books or something."

"It's not like I haven't seen your-"

"This is totally different!" He rushed out of the room to the bookshelf and came back a few seconds later blew past Takano and into the ensuite, slamming the door behind him with a kick.

"Guess I'll have to get to look into getting a stool." He mused aloud as he made his way out of the bedroom.

* * *

"So," Takano broke into what had been a mostly silent breakfast. "I think for today at least, it's best that you stay at home. You have plenty of work in that bag you brought home to keep you occupied, so I'm not worried about that."

"'Old ahn," Onodera swallowed the last of his food. "I mean, hold on. What are you going to tell the others?"

"You came down with a cold and want to run back home to nurse you back to health because I'm just so worried about you?"

He put down his utensil with a sigh. "Okay, I think you could omit that second part. Seriously though, I can't just stay home however long this lasts. We don't even know how long this will be going on for."

"That's true, but do you really want to walk into work looking like this? This isn't exactly going to be easy to explain."

"The only thing that's changed is that I'm a little shorter. I've retained all my knowledge and memories."

"Yeah, but do you want someone seeing you, maybe Isaka-san, and having words making its way to your parents?"

He shivered at the thought of his mother busting down Takano's door, taking him home, and making him redo his life in a more favorable way. "...H-he's in meetings most of the time. Can't we just ask people to not spread it around?"

"Since when are you so trusting of others, Onodera?" Takano got up and began to gather the plates, not noticing the brunet's suddenly sullen face. "If that's what you want, I guess I could yell at everyone, but I can't make any guarantees."

"Okay, I'll stay home. Only today if I can help it."

"If that's what you want." A hand came down and ruffled the brown bedhead. "I guess I'll go and buy a few things before coming back tonight. A stool, some more fitting clothes, and maybe one of those wrist leashes?"

"Quit it! I won't get lost, I still remember my way around perfectly fine."

"Ah, but it'll be from a different angle now. We should always hold hands whenever we go out from now on. For safety."

"Augh, Takano-san, quit enjoying this!"

* * *

Takano ended up leaving not too long after breakfast to go to work. Onodera felt odd being in this apartment alone, but was able to remind himself of his circumstances and get to work.

He was told to text his progress every few hours and call if something was wrong, but that hadn't stopped his boss from sending a text at least every thirty minutes within the last few hours between the times where he had gotten up to heat up some food from the fridge.

One of the times he unlocked his phone, he noticed a missed call and checked for a voicemail. He had never felt more uncomfortable with the words "missed call from Mother" in his life. Sighing, he began playing the message.

" _Ritsu, call me back when you can, alright? I wanted to talk to you about something. Don't get too absorbed in your work and forget to call back!"_

"Greaaaaaat." Onodera placed his phone on the table and rested his head beside it. Just what could he do about this?

Tell his parents about this and hope they believe him, and if they do hope they don't force him into some hospital? Definitely not the preferred option.

Pretend to have lost the phone and call back as he was right now? No...she'd get the phone back then. And see all those texts from Takano. Another bad choice and a reminder to clear his text conversations some time soon.

Ignore it and hope that he can get things back to normal before she gets involved? Perfect.

While weighing out his options, his eyes slipped shut and he yawned. He decided that a nap wouldn't hurt too much.

* * *

Takano glanced over to his phone and checking for new notifications for the third time that minute. Onodera hadn't sent him a reply text in over an hour and he was going sick with worry.

Most of the time when something happened between them, he could put it aside during work hours, however the current situation left him more prone to letting his thoughts slip towards the brunet. Was he ok right now? Did he eat what was left for him? Did he slip and fall trying to piss while standing on a stack of books and hit his head? Was he steaming on the floor again, shrinking to a baby? Endless scenarios came to mind as he tried to finish editing the storyboards in front of him.

With one last check of his phone, he stowed his work into his bag and stood from his desk.

"Good work today everyone, I need to head home a little early." Takano threw his bag over his shoulder and began to walk out of the department. "Ask Hatori if you need help with anything."

"Alright, Takano-san. Good work today." Mino and Kisa parroted back, while Hatori simply nodded.

After Takano's quick steps fell out of earshot, the three of them eyed each other, almost too knowingly.

Kisa was first to say what they were all thinking.

"How much do you want to bet he's going to see Ricchan?"

"That's my only guess." Hatori didn't bother to look up from his own storyboards. "I saw him looking at his phone every few minutes. Looks like Onodera stopped sending texts back."

"Takano-san really puts his all into everything, huh?" Mino said, smiling as always. "You know, Yamato told me that on the onsen trip he saw Takano-san go into Onodera-kun's room while he was going to the bathroom during the night. He asked me if something was wrong with Onodera-kun and was all worried."

"Seriously?" Kisa laughed. "Jeez, it was a vacation, he could've let him rest."

"No," Hatori interjected. "I would say that's the best time to be together. Our vacation time is few and far between. It can be hard to actively maintain relationship in this line of work."

"I suppose." Kisa seemed to drift into thought as he rested his chin in his palm.

"Yep." Mino agreed as he circled something in red ink.

* * *

"Ritsu!" Takano called out as soon as he entered the apartment. "Are you okay?!"

The lack of response only worried him further as he kicked off his shoes and stomped into the living room.

He felt relief come over him in waves at the sight before him. It crashed in when he realized that Onodera was only sleeping, and receded when he realized he would have an ache in his neck later. It crashed in again when he felt his forehead and found it to be a normal temperature, and receded once more when he felt the brunet leaning into his touch.

"You're too damn cute." Takano sighed out. "Quit making me feel like I'm some shoujo protagonist."

After almost painfully removing his hand from Onodera, he went to go make some dinner, figuring he could wake him up when it was ready.

It didn't take long, and he was able to poke fun at the same time. He wasn't sure if Onodera would notice the meal was one that Takano has asked him to make back in February when he was still feeling the effects of his cold.

It looked like a completely different dish now, particularly the way that he had cut the perilla. And maybe it was sauteed properly. And maybe it was seasoned better. And maybe they should use the extra time they would be spending together now to learn a few things about cooking.

Takano plated his dinner and a smaller serving for Onodera and moved them to the table.

"Ritsu," He called across the room. "I made dinner, get up."

"Mmm?" The brunet's head popped up like a spring. "You're home?"

"I've been home for almost an hour now, sleeping beauty. You stopped replying to my texts and freaked me out so I came back early." He took a seat and sighed. "Seriously, don't do that, I felt like the world was going to end."

"S-sorry, I was really tired." Onodera stood up from his spot on the floor and massaged at the pain in his neck. "I finished correcting my storyboards first, so could you check them later?."

"Yeah, leave them on the table and I'll take a look after dinner."

"Okay, thanks." The brunet walked over and climbed onto the chair next to Takano's. "This is…"

If Onodera was waiting for the other to confirm his suspicions, he didn't get what he wanted. He sighed and grumbled something about Takano being a jerk and began to eat.

* * *

After dinner, rather than check over the corrected storyboards as Onodera asked, Takano decided that they should go take a bath together.

His arguments as to why they needed to be in there together weren't exactly incorrect, as he was still not quite used to being in his current body and he didn't need to go and slip. Additionally, as Takano always loved to add on, they'd seen each other naked on quite a few occasions, a handful being in that bathroom. Onodera didn't exactly appreciate the reminder, especially right before entering the bathroom together.

Despite himself, he striped out of the baggy clothes he had been borrowing for the day and made his way towards the bath, Takano following closely behind.

"We should wash off before getting into the tub." Takano grabbed the showerhead from it's holder, turned on the water, and allowed it to warm up for a few seconds. He tested it on his hand before pointing it towards Onodera.

Green eyes screwed shut the raven sprayed him from head to toe before turning off the water.

"Sit down, I'll shampoo your hair." Takano grabbed the bottle off of the shelf and squeezed some onto his hand.

Onodera blushed all the ways to his ears but went along with it anyways, telling himself when this was done he could get into work mode and get his mind off of all of... _this_. His eyes couldn't help but to wonder when they were facing each other, so having his back to Takano was probably for the best.

"Don't be so tense," Takano began to work the liquid into Onodera's hair slowly, running his fingers through the messy brown strands over and over again. "I hate seeing you so freaked out by my touch."

If it wasn't for their argument from the night before and the fear that his mother might be calling his phone out in the living room right this second, maybe he'd admit that this was pleasant. After all, he was fulfilling one of the fantasies that he had had many times in his adolescence.

"Close your eyes." The showerhead was turned on again and the suds flowed out of his hair and down to the floor drain. Onodera worked some of it out himself and dropped his arms to his sides when he was done.

"Okay, I'll wash your body for you now."

"I can do that myself!"

"At least your back then."

"...F-fine."

* * *

After, and only after Onodera reciprocated the attentions Takano had given him (after quite the fight not to) did they soak in the tub. And when they did it didn't last long, as if they remained in their any long they knew the brunet would pass out again.

After getting dressed, they settled on the couch to look over the storyboards the brunet had corrected earlier.

Onodera spaced out to the sound of Takano's pen moving across the papers, his thoughts falling back to his mother again. He glanced to his phone that was resting on the table, forcing himself not to check it.

"You okay?"

"Oh, uh, I was just thinking about Mother." The brunet admitted. "She called last night and left a message and I don't know what to do."

"Couldn't you just text her?" The raven replied, tapping his pen on the table.

"She hates when I do that, she says it's not as proper as a phone call."

"I see."

"..."

"...This was mostly good, I just added a couple more changes to make it flow better. Good job." He stood up from the couch and walked to bedroom without waiting for a response.

"Thank you, Takano-san…"

After putting all his work away, Onodera followed the raven's lead and hopped onto the bed with minor difficulty. He crawled under the blankets and turned so that he would be facing the wall.

"You know," Takano said as he turned off the light. "We should do that more often."

"Do what more often?"

"Bathe together. It was nice."

"W-well…" Onodera grumbled quietly. "Maybe I would do it if…"

"What was that?" Takano scooted closer. "I didn't hear you."

"Nevermind, don't think about it."

"If it had anything to do with jumping you, it always started before we got into the bathroom, if memory serves. You could correct me if I'm wrong."

"..."

"See? You remember."

"Just keep your hands to yourself, Takano-san." He moved himself to the very edge of the bed, distancing himself as much as he could without falling onto the floor.

"Just accept your fate already. You're stuck with me for good, cause I'm not letting you go."

Onodera's face scrunched up into a familiar scowl and he wrapped the blanket around him a little tighter.

* * *

It's almost 2 AM! I gotta get to bed, but I'm glad I finally got this done since I've been meaning to do it forever lol. How did you guys like this chapter? I intended to include the scene where Onodera takes care of Takano in the bath too, but I was getting tired and I honestly just wanted to get this up already. Also it was already a very self indulgent scene and I didn't want to put readers through it but honestly they need to take a bath together and not be sexxing it up lmao.


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